10/3 TNA Conference Call with Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal: King Mo answeres questions on being in TNA and Bellator, his role in the Bobby Roode vs. James Storm match, learning to wrestle, and moreOct 3, 2012 - 02:00 PM

TNA held a media conference call with Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal on Wednesday, October 3 to promote his debut on TNA Impact Wrestling and the upcoming Bound for Glory PPV. The following are the highlights of the call.

-TNA PR Associate Director Chris Thomas opened the call with hype for both Impact Wrestling and the upcoming Bound for Glory PPV before turning the call over to question.

-Mo was asked about Kurt Angles comments about Mo's soreness from wrestling training and Mo said he was surprised by Angles response that the soreness take a while to go away, and that he is seeing this true. He said he doesn't ultimately prepare any differently for wrestling or MMA when it comes to the mental part of the game.

-He kayfabed a question about what he was anticipating most about being the enforcer at the PPV by saying he may have to check Bobby Roode.

-Mo said he wasn't sure when his first match was going to be, it depended on when he was told he was ready. He added that he hopes he gets to pin somebody quickly in his first match.

-He said he would be just as flamboyant in both TNA and Bellator as he was in Strikeforce, but that he was also going to be all business.

-Mo put over mostly old NWA wrestlers as the guys who influenced him, but he said really everyone he saw influenced him.

-Mo sidestepped his impact on TNA ratings going forward buy numbly pointing out he was just starting to make his name while TNA already has established stars.

-He was asked about the possibility of a show with both pro wrestling and MMA bouts on a match and Mo put it over as a big idea.

-Mo was asked if Brock Lesnar's success legitimized wrestlers and Mo said he felt like those guys legitimized themselves and that Brock's success just shined a bigger light on both sports.

-Mo put over OVW as a good training for him and that he was learning a lot from studying tapes. He said he would be transitioning over to MMA training in November for his tournament for Bellator in January before going back to OVW to continue wrestling training.

-With regards to extra pressure from being a star in both TNA and Bellator, Mo said he felt like if you weren't under pressure then you weren't doing enough, so any extra pressure he felt meant he was doing the right thing.

-Mo said he wasn't worried about blurring the lines by being in both groups. He said if people can't figure out there is a difference, that's their problem. He said as long as the fans are entertained, that's all that matters.

-The TNA locker room has been great to him, according to Mo. He said everyone had been helpful and friendly and genuinely wanted to see him succeed.

-Mo said he felt like MMA was easier than wrestling because fighting is more natural whereas he doesn't want to hurt anyone in the ring.

-He said he didn't think his wrestling training would hurt his MMA training. He said while he may not hit people as hard in wrestling, when it comes to MMA, he's going to knock people out.

-Mo mentioned the Garvin Stomp as something he wanted to incorporate into his move set.

-Mo was asked if he would wrestle or fight first and he said he didn't know. He continued to sidestep his in-ring debut question.

-Mo said he's a student of the wrestling game to the point that he's starting to realize who are not very good. He said he wasn't mentioning any names because he was still garbage himself, but that he had advanced to the point to where he could see bad spotting and whatnot.

-He said he liked training and traveling so he's not adverse to the idea of going on the TNA tour.

-Mo said he popped big when Hulk Hogan said his name on TV last week. He said he's nervous and can't sleep. He said when it comes to fights, he has no nerves, but this is a different thing. He said MMA is straight forward, but with TNA, you have to entertain people and that's not easy.

-He was very complimentary of both Bobby Roode and James Storm and said he was looking forward to working with them.

-Mo said he wasn't adverse to the idea of wrestling gimmicks bleeding into Bellator, i.e. wrestlers coming to a Bellator event to back him into a corner.

-Mo closed with a question and said lots of MMA fighters have asked hij how they could get involved with wrestling, and that MMA fans had been accepting of his decision to join the wrestling ranks.

Shore's Slant: This was a good conference call for TNA. Mo was very comfortable, and as long as he doesn't try and force too much, he should have no problems on promos and interviews. I thought he handled the "blurring the lines" question well, but I was shocked to hear he wouldn't mind having TNA gimmick come over to Bellator. I don't think he's thought that one all the way through, and I also don't think Bellator wants anything to do with that. Still, a good call that better establish Mo with the online crowd. I should have an .mp3 of the entire call later today for those who are interested.

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